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All in all, their expedition had been a success so far. As resonators, Xiangli Yao and Mortefi had been the best candidates for a somewhat risky mission to gather data. They’d collected all of the research they had set off for with little difficulty, and it had taken less time than they had expected.
There was only one small problem.
They had gone further than they had originally planned, and it was already late. The skies were growing dark, and they were far from Jinzhou city. If they tried to return to the city - or indeed, to any civilization - it would probably be the middle of the night by the time they got there. It would be dangerous to travel in complete darkness; plus, they’d tire quickly, which would only add more risk to the situation.
Thus, they’d need to set up camp for the night; however, the original plan had been to return to the city before dusk, and they didn’t have many supplies.
“Mortefi, do you have anything useful?”
“Let me check. Let’s find a good place to sit down.”
Xiangli Yao nodded, and checked the surrounding land. Flat terrain, no tacet discords or small creatures nearby: it was a decent place to stop and rest. The two men sat down.
Mortefi flicked his lighter a couple of times, creating a light bright enough for them to see what they were doing. He began to search through his bag.
“I’ve got some rations,” he said, “but that’s about it.”
“I don’t have anything on me. I already ate the rations I brought, and I didn’t bring anything for setting up camp or sleeping because I didn’t expect that we would need to stop for the night.”
“Just some rations… well, we should probably eat first before deciding anything else, anyway.”
“I concur,” Xiangli Yao agreed.
They split the rations evenly between themselves - they were dry and unsatisfying as usual (especially because Mortefi had not brought them expecting to share), but it was better than nothing.
“Wait here for a moment,” said Mortefi, standing up. “There’s no need for you to follow me.”
Xiangli Yao did as he asked, waiting patiently. He trusted Mortefi.
Mortefi returned ten or so minutes later with two reasonably sized birds in his hands.
“I’ll cook them. Don’t worry. I’ve gotten quite good at it.”
“We don’t have a fire, though. I mean, we can try to make one, but with the supplies we have, or rather, lack thereof, I don’t think-”
“My forte, Xiangli.”
“Oh… right. Yeah, that makes a lot more sense.”
Mortefi roasted the birds easily with his fire, passing one to Xiangli Yao.
“Certainly better than ration bars, at least. Here.”
The meat was tender and juicy - and a warm meal was most welcome after a long day in the wilderness, of course.
“You weren’t kidding when you said you’d gotten good at this. It’s pretty good, save for maybe the lack of seasoning. But there’s nothing to do there, not in this situation, anyway.”
“Thanks. Sometime, I’ll cook for you, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“I’d like that.”
They finished eating in silence. The skies had grown dark by that point, and Xiangli Yao - who generally followed a very strict sleep schedule - yawned.
“Tired?”
“A bit, yeah.”
“Then let’s get ready to sleep. We don’t really have the supplies to set up camp, since that wasn’t part of the plan, so we’ll just have to do our best with what we’ve got.”
Mortefi draped his lab coat over two small trees, creating something of a makeshift tent.
“You can use your lab coat like a blanket. I’ll be okay.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”
Mortefi made himself comfortable, using his arms as a pillow. Xiangli Yao did the same, enveloping himself in his lab coat.
“‘Night, Mortefi.”
“Good night, Xiangli Yao.”
Mortefi looked comfortable, half-asleep already. Xiangli Yao, meanwhile, was shivering underneath his thin lab coat.
He lay awake for a few minutes, tossing and turning and trying to get comfortable.
“Xiangli.”
“Am I bothering you?”
“Yes.”
“Sorry. I’m just a bit cold.”
“I see.”
“Are you not cold?!”
“No, I’m not.”
“How? I’m freezing…”
Mortefi rolled over, looking at him with tired eyes. Xiangli Yao opened his mouth to say something, but before he could speak, Mortefi tucked one arm around Xiangli Yao’s waist.
“I… here.”
Xiangli Yao gasped.
“You’re… warm. You’re so warm…”
Mortefi was very warm and comfortable, and it didn’t occur to Xiangli Yao at the moment that it was a little weird of him to wrap his arms around his coworker.
“Mhm. It’s my forte. I run hot most of the time. It can be kind of inconvenient at times, but…”
“Not at this point…” he mumbled, pushing his face into Mortefi’s chest.
“Xiangli, what’re you…?”
“You can just use my personal name…”
“Alright. What are you doing, then, Yao?”
“‘M cold…”
It was strange: Xiangli Yao was rarely this vulnerable. Normally, he was calm, composed, and rational; at the moment, though, not so much.
He chuckled softly.
“All right, then.”
Mortefi adjusted his position, returning the embrace. Xiangli Yao sighed, contented, his body pressed flush against Mortefi’s. The only thing separating them were the clothes that they usually wore underneath their lab coats.
Mortefi knew his face was red by then - the other’s proximity was making him a little flustered. Luckily, it was impossible to tell under the cover of night.
“G’d’night f’real this time, ‘Tefi,” Xiangli Yao was already half-asleep as he spoke, voice still muffled by Mortefi’s clothing.
Mortefi found himself smiling slightly. It was kind of nice to see another side of his usually serious and stoic co-worker.
“Night, Yao.”
-
Xiangli Yao had slept surprisingly well that night. He hadn’t imagined that he could be comfortable sleeping in the wilderness with no supplies, but Mortefi’s body heat was a nice - however unexpected - comfort.
There was only one problem.
Now that he was well-rested and fully awake, he understood how strange he had been acting the night before. Clinging to Mortefi - his coworker - like that… it was improper, to say the least. They’d been sent on a mission, and it wasn’t supposed to… the way it had…
Mortefi was still asleep next to him - well, ‘next to him’ wasn’t exactly an accurate description. The two men were tangled together, arms wrapped around each other, legs intertwined. Xiangli Yao’s head was resting on Mortefi’s scaly chest, the top of his head pressed against Mortefi’s chin.
At the realization, Xiangli Yao felt his face turn pink.
“Mm… is it morning already…? Wait, wha…?”
Mortefi stirred slightly, his voice sleepy. His eyes fluttered open, and he glanced down to see Xiangli Yao still laying on him.
“...”
“...good morning, Mortefi.”
“...hey.”
Xiangli Yao sat up slowly, feeling awkward as he untangled himself from Mortefi’s arms. Mortefi followed suit, brushing fiery-red hair out of his dragonlike eyes.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, I did. You… um… you’re very comfortable. And warm.”
“Well, I’m glad.” He coughed a little, turning away with a slight pink tint to his usually pale cheeks.
They sat in slightly awkward silence for a moment, avoiding eye contact.
Xiangli Yao was the one to break the silence.
“Um… thank you, by the way. For last night.”
“Yeah. Anytime.”
“A-anytime?!”
“Not like that!”
Mortefi hid his face from Xiangli Yao, but the tips of his still-visible ears were bright red.
“Unless you wanted that. If you get cold at night. Or… actually, I think I should just stop talking now, I’m making it awkward-”
“Don’t… worry about it. It’s not awkward… I… wouldn’t mind that.”
Mortefi turned to him with a slightly incredulous look on his face.
“I…”
Xiangli Yao met his eyes for the first time that morning.
“C’mon, then, let’s head back.”
“Wait, wait, explain yourself first! You want to sleep with me? Wait, not like that-”
Xiangli Yao stood up, beginning to walk away, laughing all the while. Mortefi grabbed his lab coat from the trees he’d propped it on and chased after him.
“Yao! Get back here-!”